democratic animals and dangerous literacy   (quote)

Roper and Conradt found that if the herd stops chewing grass and heads to the watering hole, it's not because theh lead animal gave the command. Instead, when 51 percent of the animals start pointing toward the watering hole, the whole herd moves. This is how flocks of birds and schools of fish move, too. And the thresholds vary. When there are predators around, decisions require a super-majority: two-thirds have to be pointing toward the watering hole before they move. And this goes across the spectrum in biology, from insects to orangutans. By their actions, the members of the group all "vote", if you will. Democracy is in our DNA. Jefferson was right.
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[Why children younger than 7 should not be taught to read using abstract alphabets as opposed to pictographic symbols. No shit, that's what he says, read the PDF.]
Historically, literacy has always brought in its wake violence and the domination of women. Medieval serf society was far more egalitarian than society during the Victorian era, for example. During the illiterate Middle Ages, Goddess worship was at an all-time high. Mary was worshipped more than Jesus or God. But within a generation or two of the introduction of widespread literacy in Europe, more than a million women were put to death as witches, the worship of the Goddess was suppressed, and the wise women went from being leaders in the community to being looked down upon as crones.

 Thom Hartmann, Crimes against Democracy [PDF]